Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian Wills Transcribathon
Event Type: Local / Community
Takes Place: 24th July 2025
Time: 13.00-16.00 BST
Venue: Online and in-person at the University of Exeter
Description: Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian Wills Transcribathon Join researchers from the University of Exeter in person or online to help produce transcriptions of 25,000 Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian wills. Thursday 24 July, 1-4PM BST, online and in person at the University of Exeter Digital Humanities Lab. Join researchers from the Leverhulme Trust project 'The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790' in person or online on Zoom, and help to transcribe 25,000 early modern wills. Why are we doing this? Wills are one of the most important and evocative records of life in Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian England. They are the only type of personal document to survive in their hundreds of thousands before 1800, indeed for many people their will was the only record they left behind. That's why historians and data scientists have come together to transcribe and analyse patterns in bequests within these remarkable documents, but to do this, they need your help! How will this transcribathon work? In person and online participants will use the crowdsourcing website Zooniverse to transcribe as many wills as possible during the afternoon. Attendees choose either to transcribe from scratch, or to check automatically-generated transcription. They will be shown one line of text from a will at a time to transcribe or correct. Members of the research team will be on hand to answer questions, and participants will be able to chat to each other and to share interesting findings (e.g. objects, places, distinctive bequests) on the Zooniverse 'Talk Boards' in real time. While people transcribe members of the research team will also give a series of short talks, sharing details of our own research into wills, highlighting interesting findings, and unpicking the project's use of digital technology (AI software known as Handwritten Text Recognition). Why volunteer? By taking part in the transcribathon you will contribute to academic research, and you will also make these invaluable documents more accessible for all - at the end of the project all 25,000 will transcriptions will be made freely available online. Practicalities The Transcribathon will run from 13.00-16.00 BST, but you do not need to commit to the whole session - you can attend part of the afternoon, or you are free to drop in and out. In-person tickets are limited; tea, coffee, and biscuits will be provided. Please register for your free online or in-person ticket: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com You will be sent further details about the event nearer the time. Do feel free to contact Emily Vine <e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk> with any questions.
How to book: Sign up for free at: willstranscribathon.eventbrite.com
Price: Free
Email: e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk
Organiser: University of Exeter
Lecturer: Emily Vine and the 'Material Culture of Wills: England 1540-1790' project team
Region: South-West England